The Struggle Within
by LazyNinja
Summary: Random oneshot in which I tried to quote from a few songs I like more like love :P . Sasuke and Naruto are coming to the conclusion of their anticipated battle, and Naruto manages to talk some sense into the Uchiha. NO YAOI.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**I'm dealing with yet another major writer's block (It's the exams, they're EVIL -.-") So here is pointless oneshot number two. I think this should be qualified a SasuSaku one. Oh, free cookies for the first one to get all the song titles AND artists I used in this one right. **

**Have fun ^_^'**

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Naruto looked around, a sad smirk forming on his lips. The once so beautiful forest looked like a battlefield. Well, technically, it _was _a battlefield, but no one would expect just two people responsible for this. In reality, there wasn't much left that reminded them that this place had been a forest in the first place.

"So this is all the legendary Uzumaki Naruto can come up with? Heh. Pathetic."

"Shut up..." Naruto replied, the smirk on his face turning from sad to a mix between confidence and amusement.

Meet Uzumaki Naruto, A.K.A. 'Konoha no Youko' (Demon Fox of the Leaf), 22 year-old Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, current vessel of the Kyuubi no Ktsune.

Naruto looked up to his opponent, and smirked again. Judging from the looks of it, his last attack had definetely hit target. Given, he was almost out of chakra and severely wounded, but just hitting him on the edge of his abilities just gave a feeling of triumph.

"I expected more of you too...for a single person to stand up to _the _Uchiha Sasuke like that."

The man, now identified as Uchiha Sasuke, smirked. "You've seen nothing yet, Uzumaki."

"Oh, are we beginning to address each other with family names now? Have we really sunk that far, Sasuke?"

"Shut up! I'm tired of your useless bullshit!" Sasuke spat, charges of electricity radiating from his body to emphasize his frustration. "People should see you now, the oh so great Rokudaime Hokage! What a joke!"

"I could say the same. Man, that last Rasenshuriken sure did some damage, ne? You can barely stand straight." Naruto's confident smirk broadened. Sasuke glared at him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto suddenly yelled. "How about we just cut the crap and get this over with! WHAT IS YOUR REAL PURPOSE OF THIS POINTLESS ATTACK!?"

Sasuke smirked. "Like I said. I'm going to destroy Konoha for what it's done to my clan!"

"And what are you trying to accomplish by that? Just getting new remorseful feelings all over again, like with Itachi?"

"Shut UP! You don't know a thing! You always happily lived your life, nothing to bother you! Always boasting about things you want, always digging for fame! And are you satisfied? All your life you've been chasing your dream. You just wanted one thing: just to play the king. But when it all crashes down, your crown will be broken! Your castle crumbles, and you're left with just a name! Look at you! Where's your crown now, King Nothing!?"

Naruto charged at his once-best-friend and hooked him square in the face. "Idiot! You were exactly the same! Always scanning every land looking to start up the fight! Seek and destroy Itachi, that was all you ever cared about! Your brain was on fire with the feeling to kill, not leaving until your dream was fulfilled! And now that it is, where did you end up? Right at the start!"

Sasuke was struck by realization. Naruto was, for once, right. 'How could I know this would change my life forever? Was I the one causing pain, all by my careless dreaming? They always claimed I was lost, but...How can I be lost, if I've got nowhere to go? How come I've got so cold?'

"Sasuke! Can't you get it in your think head? This leads nowhere!"

'These days just drift on inside a fog, thick and suffocating...my sinking life...outside it's hell, and inside intoxicating. And look where it got me. Now I'm a castaway, and everyone's gone...They've all gone away...'

Naruto grabbed his blankly staring friend by his collar. "Sasuke! You're lost in your lust for power!!"

"No, Naruto."

The blonde Hokage let go of his friend. "What?"

"How can I be lost if I've got nowhere to go?"

"That's my point! You HAVE somewhere you belong, and that's my- no, OUR village!"

"Naruto...My own stupidity became my downfall. And look at me now...I wanted to _kill _the people who _really _cared about me."

"Sasuke..."

"My eyes have always sought reality. The fire I created is warm but nowhere safe from the storm you command. I can't bear to see what I've let me become...wicked and worn...Naruto...it's true what people say about you. You can return people from the dark. Please forgive me..."

Naruto smirked. "Ne, Sasuke...The gate is normally locked, but it'll be open if you're true. What I felt...no, what I've known, is that there was always some sun shining through inside you. Come on, we've got people waiting for us."

"For you, you mean" Sasuke said dryly. "I'm the unforgiven. People won't be happy with my return."

Naurto gave his best friend a reassuring smile. "One word. Sakura."

A sad smile appeared on Sasuke's face. "Dream on, baka."

"Look! She was there when you were gone, and she'll be there now! Don't you get it? She still loves you, and she'll never love anyone else again besides you! To think you've got the guts to call me stupid! God!"

The sight of Naruto throwing a scene over something so useless made Sasuke smile. A real, genuine smile.

People all gathered around the village gates, Villagers and shinobi alike, to await the return of their Hokage. A sigh of relief passed through the entire crowd when the familiar mop of blonde spiky hair came in sight. Soon to be followed by a gasp of shock, for the fun-loving Hokage was accompanied by _the _Uchiha Sasuke, an S-Class missing-nin with known ties to Orochimaru and Akatsuki.

"Hokage-sama!"

"Naruto!"

And similar shouts were heard as Naruto raised his hand. "No worries people. Threat eliminated. Brought back a friend too."

Glares from every direction were sent at Sasuke, and it made him highly uncomfortable. Naruto ordered them to stop and get back to work before he and Sasuke went to the hospital for a check up round.

In his mind, Sasuke panicked. He had a feeling Naruto had more reasons for taking them to the hospital besides their injuries. A pink haired, emerald-eyes feeling.

His suspections were confirmed when Naruto barged into a room shouting "Hello again, Sakura-chan!" A sigh and annoyed "What trouble did you get yourself into this time, baka?" were heard before she finally came in sight. She froze.

"Sa...Sasuke...-kun...?"

Boom. Before he knew it, Sasuke was sent flying across the building, breaking four walls in the process. His mind stil processing what just happened, he stood up, his already damaged body aching even more now. He looked up at the fuming pinkette who cracked her fist for round two. SAsuke just sighed and braced for impact, but instead of more pain, a warm, soothing glow engulfed his wounds. He looked up to see it was Sakura who was healing him.

"You've got some guts, Uchiha, just walking in like that."

Sasuke stared at nothing in particular, remembering the night he thought he left Konoha for good. "Sakura...remember when I left?"

She looked up, surprised. "What about it?"

"I had nothing to say back then. I was lost in the nothingness inside of me, just stuck, hollow and alone. What I thought was never real. I wanted to feel like I was close to something real, hell, I still do. I want to find something I have wanted all along...just somewhere I belong...I cant believe I didn't fall right down on my face. I looked everywhere only to find it is not the way I had imagined it all in my mind. I was stuck, and the fault was my own. I thought I'd never know myself until I did this on my own, but I will never feel anything else until my wounds from that mistake are healed. I will never be anything until I break away from that. Sakura...please help me break away from the old me...help me break away...make me feel like I'm somewhere I belong."

He looked up at her, to see tears in her eyes. He smiled genuinely, and gasped as she crushed his just healed body in a bone-tight embrace. She looked him in the eye and smiled. He returned it, and the next thing he knew she had crashed her lips onto his.

Naruto, following the whole scene from his position in the doorway, shook his head smirking and left. Off to find a certain Hyuuga heiress, his own cure for the itch. The itch people called love.

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**A/N **

**That last one is a given xD anyways. Let me know what you think about it and let's just hope that my profile won't become crammed with this kind of stories. Thanks! =D**

**Before I forget, I don't own nuthin'. I keep dreaming, though.**

**Sayonara!  
~LazyNinja**


	2. Author's Note

**Important note**

I've made a fresh start after two years of absence. I am sick of my old name and my old inbox flooding with emails I never read, so I started from scratch with a new name. For anyone looking for new work, go to my new account at www(dot) fanfiction (dot) net/u/3060201/VictimofYourOwnCreation.

**LazyNinja**


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